Chair



Ma .rch 31,' 1942. L. J. ZERBEE CHAIR Filed Feb. 4, 1939 INVENTOR.

@TT RNEY Patented Mar. 31, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT "OFFICE CHAIR LouisJ. Zerbee, Bellefontaine, Ohio Application February 4, 1939, Serial No.254,556

12 Claims.

This invention relates to'porch furniture and the like and moreparticularly to an adaptation of the use of high carbon steel screenthat has been shown, described and claimed in my Patent No. 2,126,439grantedAugust 9, 1938.

An object of this invention is to form the screen along at least oneedge thereof, so as to reenforce the same.

Another object of this invention is to provide a screen to be used as acushion for the seat of a chair, or the like, wherein the front and rearedges are supported without supporting the sides.

Another object of this invention is to provide a safety device for theunsupported edges of the screen.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cushioning memberterminating in a partially rolled, unsupported edge.

Another object of this invention is to provide a metallic chair that iseasily produced at a, low cost; but at the same time neat in appearance,.efficient and comfortable.

Other objects and advantages reside in the construction of parts, thecombination thereof and the mode of operation, as will become moreapparent from the following description.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 discloses a perspective view of the chair embodying myinvention.

Figure 2 is a crosssectional view taken substantially on the line 22 ofFigure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary, detail, sectional view drawn to a largerscale, taken substantially on the line 33 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary, sectional view taken substantially on theline 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a detail, fragmentary, sectional view taken substantially onthe line 55 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary, enlarged end view of the upper arcuateportion of the back rest shown in Figure 1.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary, sectional view show- 'vided with a reentrantflange portion 30b, that ing a battery of seats, formed like that shownin Figure 1, adapted for use in a settee.

In the aforementioned Patent No. 2,126,439, high carbon steel wire orother spring wire screen has been used as a cushioning device and backrest for a chair.

The present disclosure is an adaptation of the spring wire screenmaterial used in connection with a spring base chair, wherein some ofthe edges ofthe screen remain floating without being provided with asupport.

Referring to the drawing, a pair of spring base members l0 provided withhorizontal portions Illa extending along the floor and having the rearends supported on rubber snubbers l2; are provided with verticallyextending portions 10b, which project into sleeves 14 held in positionby suitable screws Hi. The legs III are held is clamped by a member 32,provided with a flange 32a seated in the bight of the screen, merginginto an inverted U-shaped portion 321). Member 32 extends across thefront of the chair and has the ends welded to the exterior of thesleeves 14. For convenience, the suspension of the forward edge of thescreen 30 will hereinafter be referred to as underhung suspension. Therear edge of the screen, as may best be seen by referring to Figure 4,is seated in a channel member 34, substantially U-shaped in crosssectional area, the legs of the channel member 34 being clampedtogether, so as to clamp the rear edge of the screen. It is to be notedthat the rear of the screen projects into the channel from the top,whereas the front end of the screen projects up into the channeldirected downwardly. For convenience, the rear suspension of the screenwill be referred to as overhung. The main body portion of the screenfunctions as a flexible beam in supporting the weight of the occupant.The weft and the warp strands of the wire flex or bend. The warp strandsextending from the rear support to the front support have sufficientrigidity to support the weight of the occupant during normal use. Whiledoing so, each warp wire that enters into the supporting of the weightis flexed-or bent much the same as aflexiblebeam. The curvature 30a atthe front of the seat is of a greater extent than the curvature at therear of the seat. This results in the front edge of the seat havinggreater resiliency than the rear portionof the seat, so that the forwardedge of the seat yields more easily than the rear edge. Member 34 isheld in fixed spaced relation from member32 by rods 36 having the endswelded to members '32 and 34. There is one rod 36 on either side of thechair.

The sides of the screen 30 are mounted for floating movement. In orderto reenforce the sides of the screen, these terminate in reentrantflanges 30d, the reentrant portions 30c being located on the inside ofthe flange. In order to permit the screen to flex readily along theforward edge and the rear edge of the seat portion, the

flange 30d has been folded under the seat portion both along the frontand along the rear of the seat. By this arrangement the folded underportions along the front and the rear of the seat tend to strengthen orstiffen the edges. The flange portions 3M strengthen the sides of theseat.

Oflhand, it would seem that there would be a tendency for the screen tocrack along the edge f, that is, where the screen is formed atsubstantially right angles. However, this angle remains substantially aright angle, even though.

the center of the screen may be deflected downwardly, that is, thescreen does not normally bend along this edge; but the flanges aredirected outwardly when the seat is used, as shown by dotted lines inFigure 2. Thus, it is seen that even though a Weight is applied to theseat, there is no tendency for the screen to fail along the sharp cornerfound between the flange portion 36d and the main body portion of theseat. In the event a person should apply a force on the edge of thescreen, as for example by standing on the edge, the bight formed betweenthe flange 38d and the main portion of the seat, would rest upon therods 36 underlying the edge of the screen, so as to limit the freemovement of the edge'of the screen. In other words, the rods form safetydevices limiting the free movement of the edges of the seat.

The rear of the seat that is, the back rest 22 is also formed fromscreen wire. The lateral edges of the screen have been wrapped aroundthe upright side members 40, one on either side of the back portion. Therigidity of the screen is sufficient to enclose and fixedly hold members40 in position. The screen may be folded over the bottom and over thetop of members 40, so as to provide a complete enclosure for these members. Suitable lugs 42 carried by the rear end of the arms 20 are boltedor riveted or otherwise secured to the side members 40 of the back rest22 of the chair. The lower end of the screen forming the back extendsalong one side of channel shaped member 34 and is clamped thereto by asuitable strip of metal 46, held in position by screws 48, or any othersuitable fastening device, spaced at frequent intervals throughout thewidth of the chair.

As may best be seen by referring to Figure 6, the top of the back rest22 terminates in a rolled portion, simulating a scroll. In order tostiffen the free edge 5!! of the screen, a portion 52 has been foldedunder so as to form a flange-like portion. It has been found that a rollhaving a diameter of approximately 1 to 2" makes a neat appearance andprovides sufficient rigidity for the top of the screen. This rolledportion of the screen eliminates the necessity for the use of a separatecross member.

The above structure that has been described results in a light weightmetallic chair occupying a small space, easily transported or moved andat the same time neat in appearance, having easy seating qualities and achair that may be produced at a low cost.

Furthermore, this chair may readily be knocked down for shipment. It ismerely necessary to remove the screws I6, so as to remove the legs fromthe chair. By removing the screws 44, together with the screws 48, theback rest may be removed and the parts packed in nested relation in acrate. Upon arriving at destination, the chair is readily assembled andput into readiness for use.

The seat structure disclosed above may be utilized as units in a batteryof seats, as shown in Figure 7, wherein the flanges 30d of adjacentseats are held in position by rivets 54 or by staples or in any othersuitable manner. The number of sections used in the settee or theglider, as the case may be, depends entirely upon the length of eachunit and the total length of the settee or glider. Thus, it is seen thata plurality of seat units may be used to form a battery constituting theseat of a glider or the like. When such a structure is used, acontinuous channel member may extend across the entire front and anotheracross the rear of the settee.

Although the preferred modification of the device has been described, itwill be understood that within the purview of this invention variouschanges may be made in the form, details, proportion and arrangement ofparts which generally stated consist in a device capable of carrying outthe objects set forth, in the novel parts, combination of parts and modeof operation, as disclosed and defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a chair, the combination including chair supporting meansincluding a transverse front member and a transverse rear member, meansfor holding said members in fixed spaced relation relative to eachother, an upwardly bowed metallic screen cushion spanning the spacebetween the front supporting member and the rear supporting member, saidscreen member having floating sides, each merging into a deflectedportion terminating short of the end portions for reenforcing the sideportions of the seat, the forward edge of said screen being fixedlyattached to the front supporting member and the rear edge of the screenbeing fixedly attached to the rear supporting member.

2. In a chair, the combination including chair supporting meansincluding a transverse front member and a transverse rear member, meansfor holding said members in fixed spaced relation relative to eachother, a metallic screen cushion spanning the space between the frontsupporting member and the rear supporting member, said screen memberhaving floating sides, each terminating in a deflected portion forreenforcing the side portions of the seat, the forward edge of saidscreen being provided with a downwardly and upwardly extending curveterminating in a downwardly projecting flange portion, said downwardlyprojecting flange portion being fixedly attached to the front supportingmember provided with a complementary upwardly extending flange portion,the rear edge being deflected downwardly and fixedly attached to therear supporting member, the curvature of the front edge of the seatportion being of a greater extent than that of the rear edge to providegreater resiliency.

3. In a chair, the combination including a front support and a rearsupport, means for holding said Supports in spaced relation, acushioning member attached to said supports, said cushioning memberbeing woven from spring wire for spanning the distance between the frontsupport and the rear support so as to function as a flexible beam, and aback rest member made from woven spring wire and fixedly attached alongthe base thereof to the rear support, each of said members including atleast one unsupported .edge merging into a deflected portion terminatingin a flange-like portion reenforcing the unsupported edge.

4. In a chair, the combination including a front support and a rearsupport, means for holding said supports in fixed spaced relation fromeach other, a cushioning member woven from spring wire, said cushioningmember being rigidly attached to said supports so as to span thedistance between the front support and the rear support thereby forminga seat for the chair, a back rest member for the chair, said back restmember being woven from spring wire, said back rest member having oneedge fixedly attached to the rear support, means for supporting at leastone other edge of the back rest member, another edge of the back restmember being unsupported but provided with a deflected portion forming areenforcement for the unsupported edge so as to give the back restmember suificient rigidity.

5. In a chair, the combination including a pair of parallel supports,means for holding the parallel supports, and a screen cushioning memberhaving the ends rigidly attached to said supports, said screen memberbeing woven from spring wire arcuately spanning the distance between thesupports leaving at least one edge unsupported so as to function as aflexible beam, the screen along the unsupported edge being provided witha flange extending substantially normal to the plane formed by thesupports, said flange terminating short of the supports and reenforcingthe unsupported edge so as to give it rigidity.

6. In a chair, the combination including a front support and a rearsupport, a screen cushioning member having the ends rigidly attached tosaid supports, said screen being woven from spring wire spanning thedistance between the supports, the front of the screen being suspendedin underhung relation with respect to the front support and the rearportion of the screen being suspended in overhung relation with respectto the rear support, the main body portion of the screen having thesides unsupported functioning as a flexible beam, and the side edges ofthe screen being provided with flanges extending substantially normal tothe plane formed by the supports, said flanges terminating short of thesupports and reenforcing the edges of the screen to give it rigidity.

7. In a seat assembly, the combination including a front support and arear support, means for holding said supports in spaced relation withrespect to each other, and a plurality of screen cushioning memberswoven from spring wire spanning the distance between the supports, thefront edge of each cushioning member being fixedly attached to the frontsupport and the rear edge fixedly attached to the rear support, theunsupported sides of the cushioning'members having the screen extendingdownwardly in a substantially vertical direction, the downwardlyextending portions of adjacent screens being fastened together so as toform a continuous length cushion for the seat of the seat assembly, thescreen members functioning as flexible beams while supporting the weightof the occupant.

8. In a seat assembly the combination including a pair of parallelsupports, means for holding the supports, and a plurality of screencushioning members having their ends rigidly attached to the supports,said screen members being woven from spring wire spanning the distancebetween the supports, the unsupported sides of each of the cushioningmembers being directed in a direction substantially normal to the planeformed by the parallel supports so as to form reenforcing flanges, thereenforcing flanges of adjacent cushioning members being fastenedtogether so as to provide a continuous cushioning member extending alongthe length of said supports.

9. A cushioning device for use in a seat assembly provided with aplurality of interconnected cushioning devices, said cushioning devicesincluding the combination of a pair of parallel supports, means forholding the supports and an arcuate screen member attached to saidsupports so that the intermediate portion of the screen member functionsas a flexible beam, said screen member being woven from spring wirespanning the distance between the supports leaving at least one edgeunsupported, the screen along the unsupported edge being provided with aflange terminating short of the supports, said flange extendingsubstantially normal to the plane formed by the supports, said flangereenforcing the unsupported edge so as to give the unsupported edge ofthe screen member rigidity.

10. A cushioning device for use in a chair and the like including a pairof supports arranged in spaced relation from each other, means forholding the supports, anda woven metallic screen member spanning thedistance between the supports, the ends of the main body portion of saidscreen member being resiliently interconnected to said supports with thefloating edges of the main body portion being provided with downwardlydirected flanges for giving the edges rigidity, the length of the flangealong each edge being less than the length of the screen member, themain body portion of said screen member functioning as a resilient beamwhile in use.

11. A cushioning device for use in a chair and the like including a pairof supports arranged in spaced relation from each other, means forfixedly holding the supports in spaced relation with respect to eachother, and a woven metallic screen spanning the distance between thesupports, the ends of the screen being curved and interconnected to thesupports, the sides of the screen being unsupported, the main bodyportion of the screen functioning as a flexible beam while in use,the'sides of the main body portion being provided with flanges forstifiening the same, said flanges terminating adjacent the curved endsof the screen so that the ends flex more easily than the main bodyportion of the screen.

12. A cushioning device for use in a chair and the like including a pairof supports arranged in spaced relation from each other, means forholding the supports, a metallic screen spanning the distance betweenthe supports, the ends of the screen being curved and rigidlyinterconnected to the supports, the sides of the screen beingunsupported, and means for stiffening the sides of the screen and meansfor reenforcing the edges of the curved portion of the screen, saidmeans reenforcing the curved edges of the screen having greaterresiliency than the means for stiffening the sides of the main bodyportion of thascreen.

LOUIS J. ZERBEE.

